Former Raynham police chief gets new position; Bridgewater voters elect new School Committee member

Sunday

Apr 24, 2011 at 12:01 AMApr 24, 2011 at 12:12 PM

Write-in voters in Raynham on Saturday elected a new School Committee member and new Cemetery Commissioner.

Mike Melanson

Write-in voters in Raynham on Saturday elected a new School Committee member and new Cemetery Commissioner.

In Bridgewater, voters also elected a new School Committee member.

Former Raynham Police Chief Louis Pacheco won election to a three-year term as a Raynham representative on the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee, with 36 write-in votes. Twenty-five write-in ballots for the position were cast in Bridgewater, but it will not be known if the votes were for Pacheco other other candidates until Monday, when the town clerk will examine the ballots. Bridgewater and Raynham candidates appear on ballots in both towns.

Raynham Firefighter Jeffrey Kelleher won election as a Cemetery Commissioner, with 79 write-in votes. The incumbent, retired fire chief and electrical inspector Raymond Chappell, whose name appeared on Saturday’s ballot, died on April 7 at age 83.

Residents also voted, 80 to 51, to change the Raynham’s tax collector-treasurer from an elected to an appointed position.

In Bridgewater, George Vasvatekis, who ran unopposed, was elected as a Bridgewater representative to the Regional School Committee, with 137 votes. The incumbent, Geoffrey Domenico, did not seek re-election.

All other races in both towns were uncontested, prompting officials to shorten polling hours to 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to save money. Polls are usually open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Bridgewater and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Raynham.

Christopher Mello off Raynham arrived at the Merrill School at 2:01 p.m., “sixty seconds” late, and was turned away. Mello, 47, moved to Raynham 12 years ago, and this is the first election he has missed.

“A little bit longer would have been nice,” he said.

Mello said he had the names of candidates to written down and with him. He said people work on Saturdays and he had errands to do.

“What can you do?” he said.

Incumbent Raynham School Committee member Gordon Luciano, who did not seek re-election and whose term Pacheco will fill, said the ballot question to make the Collector/Treasurer an appointed position, was especially interesting, but not much discussed ahead of Saturday’s election.

“The position is vitally important,” he said.

Luciano’s wife, Marcia Luciano, said she cast two write-in votes, but declined to name who she voted for.

“I hope someone with interest and heart goes in and wants to make the schools better, as my husband did,” she said.

Of Bridgewater’s approximately 16,000 registered voters, 153 cast ballots Saturday, a turnout of about 1 percent, said Town Clerk Ronald Adams.

“We were bombed. We had 153 people. Are you kidding me? That’s why I made it four hours,” he said.